Hatchlings Helping Revive the Texas Horned Lizard From Caldwell Zoo in Tyler Released
A species that has been on the decline in recent years across our great state of Texas is the Texas Horned Lizard. You may know them better as the Horny Toad or Horned Toad. Well thanks to some great work being done at Texas zoos, including our own Caldwell Zoo, a revival of the species in the wild has been kick started.
Revitalizing the Texas Horned Lizard Population
Friday, September 16, Caldwell Zoo in Tyler announced that their Texas Horned Lizard hatchlings have been released at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area in South Texas. This is a project that the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife have been working on in conjunction with the Fort Worth Zoo, Dallas Zoo, San Antonio Zoo and our own Caldwell Zoo. The species began disappearing across our state due to loss of habitat and the use of pesticides. But also fire ants have had a hand in killing the Horned Lizard's primary food source, harvester ants.
First Batch of Eggs Hatched
In early August, Tyler's Caldwell Zoo announced that their first couple of eggs had hatched. These are part of the same hatchlings that were released on Friday. The Caldwell Zoo was kind enough to send us a picture of the parents which you can see below:
“Obviously, we are very excited about the hatchlings. We have been involved in this important program for two years now. Having our breeding pairs contribute to the wild population of Texas Horned Lizards can make a real, positive difference in the long-term survival of the species. I’m pretty proud of my team.” - Yvonne Stainback, Curator of Birds and Reptiles.
See the Eggs and Hatchlings
I love this news and love that this species revitalization is being helped by the great work done at the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler.